A Guangdong-Macau dual licensed vehicle driver, smuggling 2,017 Brazilian red-eared sliders into Zhuhai via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) checkpoint in October 2022, was indicted by the Zhuhai People’s Procuratorate on Friday, becoming the first case of illegal introduction of invasive alien species prosecuted by the procuratorate since the implementation of the relevant amendments to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), according to Macau Chinese-language media reports over the weekend.
Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs, according to the mainland authorities, discovered an abnormality in the Guangdong-Macau dual licensed vehicle at a vehicle inspection channel at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint. Upon further inspection, the customs officers discovered a total of 2,017 live terrapins inside the vehicle’s sunroof and sunshade, as well as the hidden compartment in the modified armrest box.
Under questioning, the driver insisted that he smuggled the “baby terrapins” into Zhuhai for nursery reproduction, but he could not produce a valid quarantine certificate. The vast majority of the terrapins were identified as Brazilian red-eared sliders – semiaquatic turtles belonging to the family Emydidae which are the most popular pet terrapins in the US and are also popular as pets elsewhere in the world. Red-eared sliders are regarded by zoologists as “ecological serial killers” around the world, and have been added to mainland China’s “List of Invasive Species under Key Management”. They have also been classified as one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Gongbei Customs’ Anti-smuggling Branch transferred the driver on August 7 last year to the Zhuhai People’s Procuratorate for further investigation and prosecution, charged with illegally introducing foreign invasive species.
According to the local media reports, the prosecutor has pointed out that as the number of red-eared sliders confiscated in the case is huge, once the invasion is out of control, the risk of proliferation is very high. The commercial value of the red-eared sliders was appraised to be 88,000 yuan (99,690 patacas), which is far more than the “standard” of 20,000 yuan for the seizure of precious animals and plants in crimes involving animals and plants.
Taking into account the number and monetary value of the case, the prosecutor has concluded that the case is serious, and that the driver’s behaviour of illegally introducing exotic species has reached the level required for criminal prosecution.
The reports did not say when the defendant will stand trial.
This undated handout photo provided by the Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs in 2022 shows one of the red-eared baby hatchlings seized by the authorities at that time.
